Chapter 13

     Niall stood on the other side of the door with his hands delved deep into the pockets of his khaki pants. Nervously, he rocked back and forth on his heels, his head turned toward the floor, but his eyes looking up at Anya, big, blue and innocent-looking. It was a pretty damn precious sight.
     Anya cleared her throat. "Hey."
     "Hi," Niall rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "So, I went to pick up dinner for Harry, Lou, Zayn and I, but I guess they ditched out and left with Liam and Kelley... I have all this extra food, if you're hungry..."
     Pleasantly surprised, Anya replied, "Sure, yeah, I'd like to. What'd you get?"
     "Nando's, what else?" He said with a slight laugh. It was forced, but it was something. "It's downstairs at our place if that's okay."
     "Yeah, I'll be up in a minute."
     "Cool," Niall nodded and jogged down the staircase.
     Anya stood hesistantly in the doorway for a moment before spinning back around, slipping on her Toms, and fluffing her hair in the hall mirror. Grabbing her phone with shaky hands, she left her apartment.
     Niall left the door slightly ajar so Anya pushed it the rest of the way open and stepped inside a few paces. Niall was grabbing napkins and waters from the fridge. There were Nando's takeout containers placed on the coffeetable with a few paperplates and forks. Empty soda cans and candy wrappers spread amongst the boxes of food and were scattered on the floor surrounding the table as well.
     "I'm guessing you guys have given up on housekeeping since I left?" Anya asked, sitting herself crosslegged on the couch.
     Niall shrugged and plopped down to face her on the couch. "Well, Harry's in charge of clean-up now so... Pretty much, yeah."
     Anya giggled, causing a grin to spread across Niall's face. He handed Anya a plate and placed a container of medium wings between them, but not before dumping half the contents onto his own plate. Anya picked at the saucy skin of the only wing on her plate, her stomach turning too nervously to eat anything.
     "So, when did Kelley get here?" Niall asked with a full mouth.
     "Real late last night. Two-ish." Anya set her plate on her lap and turned her water bottle around in her hands. "Actually, she came here first... You didn't hear her?"
     Niall shook his head and swallowed his chicken. "No, why?"
     Anya noticed she was ripping little pieces of her paper napkin off now. "Well, Zayn said he saw you were still up around that time...pacing or something..."
     Niall stopped chewing for a moment and looked down at his hands. He had a smidge of dark red sauce in the corner of his mouth. Without saying anything, he wiped it away with the napkin he had in his hand. Anya took a deep breath, realizing she might be poking at something that made him uncomfortable, and opened her mouth to change the subject but Niall interrupted her. "I'm just having trouble adjusting."
     Anya looked up at him, and his eyes were staring right into hers, making her stomach drop. She swallowed. "Yeah, me too."
     Niall's gaze flickered from Anya's eyes to her plate and back again. His lips curled into a bit of a sideways smile, "You know, if you're not going to finish that wing, I could take it off your hands."
     Anya replied through a laugh, "Fine, ya pig!"
     Niall lunged for her last piece of chicken but Anya snatched her plate just out of his reach, causing him to faceplant on her leg. Chuckling into her knee, Niall lifted himself up and groaned. "C'mooon, you know how I feel about my food!"
     When Anya wouldn't give in, Niall climbed up off the couch and planted himself on her lap, forcing another laugh from her lips. Niall playfully clasped his arm around Anya's neck, putting her in a headlock so he could reach around and pluck the chicken wing off her plate. He ripped a piece of meat off with his teeth and smiled proudly down at Anya. Once she met his gaze, she felt his muscles stiffen. Niall slid off Anya's legs, still remaining close in front of her, and dropped his chicken on the table. He slid his hand around her waist, pulling his face closer to hers, awakening the butterflies in Anya's stomach. Niall's eyes explored her face, reading everything about her expression. The way the blue of his eyes pierced straight into hers made her mind flash back to their familiar connection, the one they couldn't break no matter what. It was instinctive.
     When Niall finally spoke, his voice came out soft and smooth, like velvet in the air, speaking directly to her heart. "This is the most difficult thing I've ever had to do."
     "What?" Anya breathed, even though she knew very well what, since she felt exactly the same way.
     "Be away from you. The pain- the excrutiating heartache..." He shook his head without unlocking his eyes from hers. He didn't dare speak any louder than a whisper, as if it would shatter the fragility of this moment. "Anya, I need to hold on to you with everything I have. Losing you isn't an option."
     Anya's lip quivered the slightest bit. "I never wanted it to be an option."
     Niall slowly lifted his hand to the side of her face, grazing his thumb against her cheek. Bringing his face nearer to Anya's, his warm breath tickled her nose before his soft lips gently pressed against hers. When he pulled away, Niall kept his forehead rested on Anya's, his eyelashes fluttering against her closed eyelids. He tangled his fingers with hers and held her hand against his chest. Anya felt the quick, but steady thud of his heart against the back of her hand. His sweet breath caressed her cheek once more when he whispered, "Please don't leave me again. Because if you try, I won't let you go." With that, Anya could feel herself floating on cloud nine, something she hadn't felt in a long time.